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CHAPTER3
Early the next morning before the sun rose, Tanner woke and glanced at Emily as she lay on her side, curled away from him.
Last night had been incredible. All his fears of not being able to have sex again were now history. She had been so wonderful that he hated leaving her, but knew it was for the best.
A broken man like him didn’t deserve a beautiful woman by his side like her. All she could ever be was a romantic rendezvous.
Carefully, he rose from the bed not to wake her and found his strewn clothes. They had been in such a hurry that they just tossed their clothes off and then fell into one another’s arms. Never had he experienced such a wonderful time, but it couldn’t last, and he’d lied to her from the get-go about who he was.
Women didn’t like being lied to.
Gazing down at her, he loved her pert nose, full lips, and high cheekbones where a piece of her blonde hair lay curled on her cheek. The urge to move it was strong, but he feared waking her.
They had made love until early this morning and she needed her rest.
Maybe he should leave her a note.
Finding a piece of paper in the dark, he quickly scribbled.
Have to go. Thank you for a wonderful night. Tanner
No phone number. No way for her to find him. And sadly that’s the way it had to be.
There had been no promises made, except that they would enjoy each other, and that had been fulfilled many times over. No promises that this was more than a tryst.
Walking out of the door carrying his boots, he softly let the door click behind him.
It was all he could do to keep from dancing down the hall. He’d had sex. Great sex. And now it was time to go back home to his ordinary dull life.
Time to continue facing the disease he hated. Time for him to return to the family dude ranch where he and Travis dealt with the clients. Today, a new group would be arriving and the family would make certain they enjoyed their week.
With a grin, he got on the elevator and rode it up to his room on the top floor. There he showered, drank some coffee, and grabbed his things.
Time to go.
When he reached his truck, the sun was just beginning to rise and in two hours he’d be home. Back to his ordinary lonely life. Back to people walking around him staring at him strangely when he had an episode. Thank goodness, they didn’t happen too often in public.
Once he was inside his truck, he called Tucker.
“Wake up, little brother,” he said.
A sleepy, groggy Tucker answered the phone. “Do you know what time it is here? Someone had better be dead or you’re going to be.”
“No one's dead yet," he said.
“Did you pick up the new chef?”
“No, she decided to drive in, so I stopped last night at a hotel in Granbury.”
“All right," Tucker said. "And that's why you're calling me before dawn."
“I did it,” he said his voice so excited. “Last night I had the best damn sex of my life.”
“With a prostitute?”
“Oh hell, no,” Tanner said. “A beautiful woman I met at the hotel. At the swimming pool. She looks damn good in a bikini too.”
There was a moment of silence on the phone. “No problems?”
